Gulags, Nukes and a Water Slide:
Citizen Spies Lift North Korea's Veil

With Sleuthing and Satellite Images, Mr. Melvin Fills the Blanks on a Secretive Nation's Map

By

Evan Ramstad

Updated May 22, 2009 11:59 p.m. ET

SEOUL -- In the propaganda blitz that followed North Korea's missile launch last month, the country's state media released photos of leader Kim Jong Il visiting a hydroelectric dam and power station.

Images from the report showed two large pipes descending a hillside. That was enough to allow Curtis Melvin, a doctoral candidate at George Mason University in suburban Virginia, to pinpoint the installation on his online map of North...